WBA bantamweight world champion Nonito Donaire will head to Belfast next week to support Ryan Burnett at #MTKFightNight’s event at the Ulster Hall on May 17, in association with Top Rank live on ESPN+ and iFL TV.

Former unified world champion Burnett (19-1, 9 KOs) makes his return to action when he faces Jelbirt Gomera for the vacant WBC International super-bantamweight title.

It’s his first outing since his bout with Donaire at the SSE Arena in Glasgow back in November, where a serious back injury forced the Ulsterman to retire after the fourth round.

There was plenty of respect between Burnett and Donaire after the fight, with the two remaining friends, and four-weight world champion Donaire has revealed he will be in attendance at the Ulster Hall to cheer on Burnett.

Donaire has held world titles at flyweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight during his career, and is regarded as one of the best boxers of his generation.

A packed night of Belfast boxing also features an IBF European super-featherweight clash between home fighter Marco McCullough and Dublin’s Deco Geraghty along with some of the top Irish prospects including Sean McComb, Lewis Crocker, Steven Donnelly and many more.